Fla. woman gets 20 years for warning shot

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 12 (UPI) -- A woman who fired a warning shot during a fight with her husband was sentenced to 20 years in prison under a Florida law that strips judges of discretion.

Marissa Alexander was prosecuted by Angela Corey, who served as a special prosecutor in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, CNN reported. Alexander's lawyer, like Martin's admitted killer, George Zimmerman, tried to use the controversial "stand your ground" law, but a judge rejected that argument before trial.

Instead, Alexander was sentenced under the "10-20-life" law.

"Under the state's 10-20-life law, a conviction for aggravated assault where a firearm has been discharged carries a minimum and maximum sentence of 20 years without regarding to any extenuating or mitigating circumstances that may be present, such as those in this case," Judge James Daniel said at the hearing in Jacksonville.

Corey said Alexander turned down a plea bargain that would have limited the sentence to three years in prison.